


Then I set fire to our beds

by teskodanceparty



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always the Opposite Sex, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Rhodey is getting too old for Toni's shit, Thor uses the all speak for toasting purposes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-11
Updated: 2012-07-13
Packaged: 2017-11-09 14:58:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/456787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teskodanceparty/pseuds/teskodanceparty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The next day there's a picture of the two of them in The Daily Bugle, a black bar covering his bare ass and her fingers in his hair. The headline reads <strong>"Hulk finds love???"</strong> and promises an interview with an "inside source" on page 6.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alternatively titled:
> 
> The one where the Avengers' mansion is a love-fest for a billiondy words, sexual tension happens and writing smut is my kryptonite.

At some point after saving the world -during shwarma, before the debriefing back on the hellicarrier- Toni gets a phone call. She glances at the phone buzzing on the table, AC/DC's _Girl's Got Rhythm_ playing over the crinkle of fast food wrappers and Clint's foot tapping along against the back of Natasha's chair.

'I should... I'm gonna get that, take it outside, uh, yeah.' Toni mutters, snatching it up from the table before going to stand out on the street. Her back is to the restaurant, but from where Bruce is sitting he can see her free hand tapping at the cover of the arc reactor plate in her chest, the way she shifts her weight from one leg to the other every few seconds.

Bruce hasn't known her long, but he has calculated the slump of her shoulders when she's bent over a stubborn equation, the speed with which her fingers dance against her thigh when she's talking back to Captain Rogers, the angle of her jaw tightening when she had told him about Coulson, the force and frequency with which her teeth dig into the left corner of her bottom lip before attempting a reassuring smile.

He's catalogued all of this, because he hadn't expected anyone else to bother with it, to bother with them. So he's surprised when he hears Rogers put his food down and ask, 'Do you think she's alright?'

Bruce glances up and looks around the table, at everyone looking between him with a drink half way to his lips, and Toni outside. He takes a sip and blanches as the carbonation decides to take a scenic route through his sinuses. Thor pats him on the back, gently, and smiles as though the Other Guy hadn't spent the better part of an afternoon throwing him around the hellicarrier.

'I-I think she'll be okay.' he tells them, takes another drink because it's an evasion of sorts and it's one of the things he's learned to do well. He watches Toni slide her phone into her back pocket, leaning her head back against the street sign, and take a deep breath before coming back inside.

Her smile is a little raw, a little jagged, and it hurts just to see it. Bruce stares at his hands instead, dirt and sweat and blood caked onto his skin and cracking at the knuckles.

'All is fine on the western front, or whatever, let's get outta here before they try to get us to clean.' Toni says, words running together and her eyes wild. She shoves the last bite of her food into get mouth, throws back the rest of her drink and avoids meeting Bruce's eyes. When they get back to the hellicarrier she bolts, almost comically fast; flying past the bay of windows at the front of the air craft in a blur of red and gold.

 

+

 

Toni looks at the hem of her shirt, stares really because she can't look away or up; can't look at anything but her lap or the ground. There's a loose thread she dearly wants to tug at, to watch the bottom of her worn out shirt unravel like this whole night has. 

She shoves her fingers under the edge of her thighs instead, takes a deep steadying breath and looks up.

She's struck by how empty the room looks; all of Pepper's things packed and put away in her favorite guest room, or in the company jet somewhere between here and Malibu with Pepper herself. Her face stings, all across her cheek from where Pepper had slapped her as she cried, 'Toni, I cannot be the only one between us working to keep you alive- I just- I can't anymore.'

Bruce is watching her, his face careful and carefully blank and it's a mask to hide behind not wholly unlike the dozens Toni has had to train herself to use since she learned to walk and talk at the same time.

'I'm okay.' she says, words burning acidic and hot on their way up. She blinks, clenches and unclenches her fists and repeats it.

 

+

 

Toni runs, she hides, and if it were anyone else calling it 'work' it might have been a problem. It actually _is_ a problem, but no one seems willing to push her on it.

Bruce, try as he might, never seems able to get through to her. So he does what he can, stays down in the lab with her and works, bumps elbows when she's being amicable and bites his tongue when she's not.

The Other Guy stays strangely calm throughout, not reacting beyond an annoyed grumble in the back of his mind even when Toni's screaming at him, voice a sharp hiss as she curses and throws things -bottles, scrap metal, beakers, a shoe, and once a lit welding torch- slaps and kicks out at him, claws at his face.

Everyone eyes him worriedly -well, everyone _but_ Clint, who just smirks and clicks his tongue, tells Bruce to use protection before ducking to avoid being hit in the head by whatever Natasha had in her hands when he said it- every time he comes up to put a kettle on for tea and winds up using the boiling water to clean scratches on his arms and neck.

He wonders at why he bothers with Toni at all, and why The Other Guy let's him take the beatings she doles out without so much as a flash of green on his skin until the next time they're called to assemble.

 

+

 

Toni isn't paying much attention to what Rogers is telling her, only that after they'd been screaming in each others faces he'd mentioned her father and seen the way she bristled, lips pulling back in a snarl. He'd  at least had the good grace to look apologetic.

They're still out in the street, people gaping at the group of them, cell phones out and filming it all. Toni wonders for a second what about today was different and why it pushed Rogers to crack and tear her down before they'd even gotten a chance to get back to SHIELD. She wonders why Natasha and Clint aren't trying to contain it, and how long it will take for Bruce to change back this time.

'Toni I know you don't care, but you could have gotten a lot of people hurt, including yourself and your teammates.'  
Cap says. He sighs and shoves his cowl back off his face, wipes his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. He seems to realize his mistake before he's done, mouth forming an apology she cuts off.

'You don't know shit about what I do and do not care about. So take whatever assumptions you've made about me and stick 'em somewhere nice and icy, Capsicle.' she growls, jaw clenching. She turns to leave, means to work off the adrenaline-tempered rage by taking the long way back to the hellicarrier.

She has her faceplate back down and is ready to take off when a hand -green under the layers of sweat and dirt- comes down on her shoulder and squeezes.

'Metal lady stay,' he growls, his voice like gravel rolling in a cement mixer, his other hand moving to pat Toni on the head not unlike one would a pet, 'Hulk have back.'

Toni's eyes widen, and she whispers the command to lift the faceplate again. The rest of the team is staring at them, Cap looking worried and Clint like he's trying not to laugh; Natasha quirks an eyebrow and Toni responds in kind before the grip on her shoulder tightens. She gasps, but it's drowned out by the growl echoing up out of the Hulk's chest. Cap -who'd been inching forward- takes a big step back, apologizing though he's flexing the hand he uses for his shield as he does it.

'Hey,' Toni says, turning and poking the Hulk in the center of his chest. Even in the suit she has to crane her neck to look up at him, and she tells him, 'I'm gonna get a crick in my neck talking to you like from down here.' Hulk sits, setting off a nearby car's alarm until he smashes his fist down on it to stop it.

'I've got your back too, Big Guy.' she says, smiles up at him, takes her helmet off, and sits down.

 

+

 

When Bruce comes back to himself, he's laying with his body curled around Toni's in the Iron Man suit, his nose pressed into her stomach. He smiles, breath fogging the metal against his face as he huffs a laugh.

'Oh, shut up.' Toni grumbles but he can hear the smile on her voice as she starts to hum _Shoot to Thrill_ under her breath. She's running her fingers -freed from the gauntlet that's now leaning against his arm- through his hair and it's nice, nicer than he'd thought her capable of given the circumstances.

-

The next day there's a picture of the two of them in The Daily Bugle, a black bar covering his bare ass and her fingers in his hair. The headline reads **"Hulk finds love???"** and promises an interview with an "inside source" on page 6. When he shows it to Toni, she snatches the paper from his hands, flips to page 6 and reads, mouth moving as she does. She looks at him over the top of her coffee mug once she's handed the paper back to him, eyes glinting mischievously until she cracks.

She throws her head back, laughs like it's the first time she's really done it in months and Bruce can't help but join in when she jumps up, puts something on that's bass heavy, but keeps the volume low and dances over to him. She pinches his cheeks, shimmies around and coos at him, calls him "Hulkasaurus," and "Mighty Mouse," and presses herself into his space, arms going around his middle and squeezing when he calls her "The Hulk Whisperer." Her mouth is dry against his cheek for a second. Then she's smiling, pulling away from him, fingers trailing over his wrist, her eyes bright and trained on his face and then she shouts. She jogs over to Dummy, who beeps and whirs guiltily for trying to sneak towards with a new fire extinguisher.

 

+

 

It's quieter than one would think, moving the Avengers into the mansion she lived in as a child. Bruce is first to move in, Clint and Natasha following not long before the second time they stop an alien invasion. Steve -and somewhere along the line they've eased up, are on a first name basis and have a tentative friendship going- only moves in because his apartment was being fumigated and they never really manage to let him leave. Thor, when he's not in New Mexico or Asgard, just shows up. Usually with a few casks of 'The finest Asgardian mead to grace the likes of such fine Midgardian warriors!' so they let it slide. 

Bruce is first to move in, but he's also the first to leave. He doesn't do goodbyes well; is worse at them than Toni is, she'd noticed. When she heads down to the workshop he's been using for the past seven months one morning and finds a note stuck to the door rather than Bruce in the side of the workshop Clint had deemed 'Hulktopia,' head bowed over his notes or his glasses hanging crooked before his eyes as he rushes to meet her and share some new discovery he's made, well...

At least he left a note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working my butt off trying to finish this one, and I'm pleased with how it ends even if it took me a billiondy days to get to it.
> 
> Updates should happen every couple of days, title from _Florence + The Machine_


	2. Chapter 2

He's gone exactly two months, almost to the minute. He's acutely aware of it as he rubs at the week's worth of stubble along his jaw and sets his bag down inside the door.

Clint comes sliding into the entryway on his socks, wearing nothing but Spongebob Squarepants boxers and a neon pink tube top. He pulls Bruce into a hug, smearing glitter from his hands onto Bruce's clothes.

'Long time, no see Doc.' he says, smiling and easy before he's pulling Bruce by the elbow through to the living room.

The team is playing some sort of dancing game on one of the many modified gaming consoles Toni has around the house. They are also all in outfits Bruce hasn't seen the likes of since the 80's. Even Natasha.

Toni is standing in front of the giant tv on the wall, plastic bracelets on her arms clicking together as she sings and dances with Thor. They're both wearing leg warmers and exercise shorts in hideous shades of neon, Thor donning a headband that matches Clint's top. Toni laughs as Thor pulls her to his chest, spins her out, pulls her back in, and dips her over his arm.

'Jesus, Thor, give a girl a warning next time.' she chides, but she's smiling, doesn't stop smiling when Thor drops her to the floor as the song switches over. Duran Duran apparently warrants Thor throwing his arms in the air, bellowing, 'This song! It is what you would call "my jam!" Antonia-'

'Yeah buddy, we'll play it one more time.' she chuckles, letting Steve -who is dressed like a very big, very blond Richard Simons- pull her to her feet before she spots Bruce behind the couch. He's been wearing the same clothes for a while, something he's very aware of when everyone turns to look at him once Toni moves away from the rest of them and says, 'Hey Bruce.'

She asks, _'Where've you been,'_ says _'I missed you'_ without saying a word, eyes flitting from his muddy shoes to the thin material of his jeans where they've begun to wear through at the knees and up to his face before she's stepping past him and into the kitchen.

Steve smiles and pats him on the arm, Thor gathers him in a hug hard enough he can almost hear his bones grinding together before he's dropped back to the ground. Natasha offers him a small smile before she says, 'The science bros probably have a lot to talk about, I'll take Toni's spot Thor,' waving her hand in a dismissal.

Toni is fiddling with the coffee pot on the island in the center of the kitchen, fingers dancing restlessly on the glass. Bruce reaches out to stop them, decides against it and puts his hand on the countertop instead.

'I should- Tasha will want fresh coffee if she's being forced to dance with Thor,' she says, and when she looks up her expression is so pleasantly blank he cringes.

'I don't think she can be forced to do anything.' he says, because if he doesn't say _something_ he'll scream. The Other Guy rumbles on the peripherals of his mind, he squeezes the bridge of his noise and sighs.

'You haven't had an incident since the last time we needed Jolly Green.' Toni says, not a question because if anyone knows, it's the woman who single-handedly changed the technological world in a cave with the scraps of what the world was before she went into it.

'No,' he agrees, leans against the counter and into the hand she places on his arm when she moves past. 'A close call in Beijing.'

'Well that's understandable, I'd be inclined to turn all mean and green if I had to spend time in China too.' she grimaces over her shoulder at him, scrunches her nose before turning to grab three mugs from a cabinet. There's a shimmer of body glitter on her shoulders and highlighting her cheekbones, a smudge of grease on one elbow she probably didn't even know was there.

He moves around her, nudges her towards a stool and it's so like before he left and so damn different that his hands shake when he sets her favorite mug down in front of her, turning the handle forty-three degrees before joining her.

His knee knocks against hers when he sits, fidgeting and trying not to until Toni laughs.

'This is dumb, I want it to go on record that Dr. Banner and I are fucking idiots, Jarvis' she sighs, running a finger around the rim of her mug before drinking half of it down in one gulp.

'So noted Ms. Stark, though might I remind you of the numerous Ph'd's held by yourself as well as Dr. Banner?' Jarvis quips. Bruce hides a smile behind his mug.

'Not necessary, but thanks for the reminder baby.' Toni grins up at the ceiling. From the living room Thor can be heard singing 'Notorious' at the top of his lungs, Clint shouting encouragements and -from the exasperated way Steve says his name- is throwing popcorn. It doesn't seem like it should make a difference, but it does, the easy friendship they've had since the start falling back into place as they sit in comfortable silence drinking coffee and listening to their friends being ridiculous.

 

+

 

Toni doesn't bury herself in her workshop, but it's not from lack of trying. They're called on to fight a giant mutated lobster at the beginning of the week, and it only gets worse from there. By the time Thursday rolls around even Thor looks a little worse for wear, dragging his feet into the living room wearing a puffy pink robe that only reaches about mid-thigh.

'You alright over there, buddy?' Clint asks, sitting at the top of his favorite book case, shooting an M & M into Toni's mouth with a  rubber band. Thor turns to look up at him, his robe swirling around him as he does and everyone in the room groans.

'Thor we've talked about pants and how you need to wear them, remember?' Bruce says, patting the top of Steve's head where he's hidden his face against Bruce's side.

'At the very least boxers,' Toni giggles, catching another chocolate from Clint in her mouth and chewing, giving the room double thumbs up, 'But really, what's up? You look kinda sad and like- did Loki steal your favorite teddy bear in your sleep again?'

'Toni.' Natasha says simply over the top of the magazine she's flipping through, mouth curling at the corners into a small smile.

'Natasha my sweet, you look lovely this morning!'

'Afternoon' Steve corrects her, sitting up but not moving away from Bruce's side. Toni leans up on her elbows from her spot on the floor, looks at them and pauses, a full-blown grin spreading across her face. 'Right,' She turns to Natasha, who nods almost imperceptibly before she's jumping up, muttering 'Oh shit, oh shit!' as she jogs down the hall.

'Does no one wish to hear what ails me so?' Thor asks, looking wounded and a little offended and they can all hear Toni yelling something before Jarvis chimes in.

'Ms. Stark would like me to tell Mr. Odinson that she wants to hear all about it, but she has a quote un-quote "date" with Rhodey that he's totally welcome to tag along for.' Jarvis says, sounding particularly dry and sarcastic.

Thor grins, 'Aye, a warriors feast is just what I need to lift my spirits!' he booms. Toni comes skidding into the room on her socks, shoes in hand and tie fluttering around her shoulders.

'Okay, cool, but really; pants Thor, wear them, love them.' she says, pulling her shoes on and waving Natasha over to help with her tie.

'I know how to wear pants,' Thor booms over his shoulder as he strides out of the room, 'I simply prefer not to.'

'Yeah man, but they're lots of fun to remove with your teeth if you don't get your hair caught in the zipper.' Clint adds, throwing one last M & M and hitting Steve before climbing down.

Bruce's face goes very still for a moment, knowing exactly what Toni is going to say even before she says it.

'Is that what happened to your- ow! Okay- shit! Not asking, Tasha! I'm not asking!'

 

+

 

When they get back to the mansion, Toni is being carried between Thor and Jim, a wreath of daisies hanging lopsided on her head, a split lip, a button missing on her jacket and a grin on her face when she sees Bruce at the microwave in the kitchen pulling a mug of tea from it and blowing over the surface, as he leans against the counter.

'Bruce!' she whisper-shouts, pulling away from Thor and patting Jim's cheek as she moves around him and towards Bruce. 

She presses herself into his space, and he can feel his eyes go wide as Jim watches them. Thor rustles around in cupboards until he finds a box of strawberry pop-tarts. He sets his pack down next to the toaster, kneels to rest his chin on the counter and screws up his face to show how very serious he is.

'Friend toaster, I wish to use you to heat my pop-tarts' Thor says, trying to be quiet and failing, making Toni wince against Bruce's chest.

'God, he's so loud, why is he so loud?' Toni whines and Bruce chuckles and pats her back in solidarity, because no matter how drunk or sober you are, Thor is always a little loud. The toaster whirs and beeps, and Thor haggles with it until it let's him toast his pop-tarts.

Jim, from his spot by the coffee machine, sighs something that sounds like 'Of course there's a sentient toaster, your best friend is Toni Stark,' as he rubs at a bruise blooming wonderfully along his jaw.

'Love you too Cookie Crisp.' Toni murmurs, blows a kiss at him and drifts to sleep against Bruce's shoulder. He maneuvers them to sit on the floor against the fridge, pulling his mug of tea down with him and letting her head fall on his shoulder.

Thor grins down at them, mouth full of his snack, patting the toaster's side and whispers -as close to it as he gets, at least- 'We are lucky, my friend, to have found love in women who test our strengths, intellectually, and spiritually,' he pauses, winks and adds, 'and sexually.' before leaving the room.

Bruce sits there, mouth hanging open to protest though chances are Thor is already lost in the latest episode of _Bridezillas_ he's had Jarvis record for him. Jim sits down across from him, eyes on Toni drooling slightly against his shoulder.

'I've been meaning to talk to you about that.' he says, cracking his jaw and wincing.

'Do you want me to look at that?' Bruce says, cataloging the probable injuries one would gain in a bar brawl with Thor and Toni. He's actually surprised no one died.

'Don't worry about it, we swore on the "bro code" tonight stays between the three of us,' Jim says, throwing up air quotes around "bro code" and shaking his head, 'That's not what I want to talk about.'

'I thought Toni was bad.' Jim adds after a moment, and his smile; when he smiles, is equal parts fond and exasperated. Bruce huffs a laugh.

'Thor is a Norse god, they tend to not do things by halves.' he says and Jim nods.

'I noticed.' he levels Bruce with a look, one that had they been talking years ago, or even a month ago, would have had him shrinking into the background. The Other Guy rumbles, reminding Bruce of his existence -as if he could ever forget- and Bruce clears his throat, taking a sip of his tea and flinches when it burns the tip of his tongue.

'You're Toni's best friend.' Bruce says, setting his mug down and pulling off his glasses to clean them on the edge of his t-shirt. He puts his glasses back on in time to see Jim nod, his mouth thinning into a grimace.

'Yeah, I am. And while usually I would leave Toni to her own devices, because God knows she doesn't listen to me anyways, I feel the need to let you in on some things.' he says, and Bruce tries to smile as The Other Guy growls.

'Is this the part where you tell me if I break her heart, you'll break my legs?' Bruce asks, realizing too late what this is.

'No. This is the part where I tell you if you hurt her, in any way, they'll never find the body and no one will ever think to pin it on me.' Jim retorts, eyebrow arching in what Bruce hopes is amusement.

'We're not- I mean, we've never,' he starts and stops. He takes a minute to get his heart-rate under control and another minute to calm The Other Guy, vivid in the back of his mind and baring teeth at the man sitting across from him. 'Even if we were, you think I'd let anything happen to her?' _You think I'd be able to live with myself if I hurt her?_ goes unsaid between them, enveloping the quiet hope Bruce has had for a while now and has learned to manage as well as his other condition.

'I don't know; I just know that Toni trusts you the most out of any of these clowns. The last person she trusted that much, aside from me and Pepper, ripped her heart out with his bare hands and tried to use it to kill her. So excuse me if I'm not easily swayed.' Jim tells him, smiling in a way that's more a threat than a reassurance.

Bruce presses his fingers to his temples and massages. He's read Toni's file of course, but this is different. This is the image of Toni dying with a hole in her chest, and it smacks him with a sudden rage, both his own and The Other Guy's.

He looks down at Toni, at the split lip and crown of flowers, the rise and fall of her chest, and the faint whir of the reactor. He thinks, _this is a friend, **she** is my friend, I would rather die than hurt this woman._

'I'd never hurt her.' Bruce says aloud, meets Jim's gaze steadily and waits. After a minute Jim nods, a smile spreading slow and a little menacing across his features before he leans forward.

'Here; I'll put Sleeping Beauty to bed. You enjoy your tea, Bruce.' Jim says, pulls Toni to her feet and readjusts her crown as she grumbles sleepily against the side of his neck. He lifts her up, carrying her bridal style through the living room - Bruce can hear Thor wishing them a good night and pleasant dreams- and towards her bedroom.

'Jarvis, how many people have gotten that talk from Jim before me?' Bruce asks, standing and taking a sip of his drink.

'Colonel Rhodes has given variations of the speech you received only five times in the past, the most recent occurrence due to a misunderstanding between himself and Captain Rogers.' Jarvis says, smile in his voice as much as an AI can manage.

'Thanks Jarvis.' Bruce says, emptying the contents of his mug into the sink, heading to bed. He's suddenly not in the mood for tea and definitely, totally, not irrationally jealous Steve got the "You break her heart, I break your neck" speech before he did.

-

When he wonders down to the kitchen the next morning, Toni is at the table with her darkest pair of sunglasses on and her temple resting on Steve's shoulder, an even bigger than normal mug of coffee in front of her. There's a picture of Steve and Clint sitting on either side of Bruce, all three of them smiling wide -though Clint is crossing his eyes and Steve is holding up his fingers as bunny ears behind Bruce's head- taped to the front of the fridge.

'Natasha?' Bruce asks, nodding towards it and passing Clint the carton of soy milk. Everyone nods. Toni adjusts her sunglasses and smirks.

'We're saving the picture of the rest of us for the day Thor decides to wear clothes to breakfast.' she says, throwing a balled up napkin at the side of Clint's head. He flips her off but lays it flat on the table before passing it to Bruce.

'So never than?' Natasha says as she shuffles in, rifles through the fridge and snaps it shut, apple in hand. She pulls herself up onto the counter next to the coffee machine, pats the top of it when it beeps at her, pulls a knife from a pocket in her sweater and starts slicing the fruit.

'Probably.' Toni sighs, just as Thor slides into the room wearing nothing but his boxers.

 

+

 

Whatever these flavor-of-the-week villains had on them, it was the ray-gun they'd shot at Toni that almost took them out for the count.

'Iron Man, what's your status?' Steve shouts over the comms and she would answer if she could fucking _move_ from where she'd fallen when they hit her with that god-awful ray gun of gloom and doom, or whatever.

'Toni?!' she hears someone yell and she knows it's Bruce, just like she knows her suit is failing in the way Jarvis sounds panicked in the seconds before the HUD shorts out.

'Fuck,' she mutters and inhales deep, quick gulps of filtered air.

She'd been mildly claustrophobic as far back as she could remember, having been shoved into far too many lockers and cabinets up until she caught up to Rhodey at MIT. It had only gotten worse over the years, especially after Afghanistan and this was-it was fucking terrifying is what it was.

'Fuck!' she screams, squeezes her eyes shut and screams it over and over again. Bruce yells for her and her eyes snap open.

'Huh?' she huffs, and sits up.

Her suit has melted and fallen away in pieces, and has started to sizzle where it's fallen onto the pavement. Her skin burns icily where the plates on her stomach have yet to melt through and Toni takes a moment to silently apologize to her already scarred and calloused finger tips before prying it off and throwing it away from her.

'Toni you're- your suit.' Bruce says, suddenly at her shoulder and she jumps, turns and sees him blushing and looking anywhere but at her. He pulls his glasses off to wipe them on something but his pants are hanging loosely from his hips and she's more concerned with the fact that there's a bandage flapping around his middle where she's pretty sure someone had been trying to tape up his ribs.

'Yeah my suit,' she says, shrugging and kicking off the boots to sit in the middle of the moderately destroyed street on her bare ass, 'At least it wasn't one of you guys though. My suit can be rebuilt, I don't know want to know what that shit would have done to you or Steve or Tasha.'

Bruce kicks at stomach plating sizzling in a heap by his foot, Toni reaching out to stop him and wincing at burns on her fingers. Bruce's gaze snaps to her, brow furrowing and mouth thinning angrily.

'You should-' Bruce starts to say before Natasha jogs over.

'Put on some clothes, Stark.' she says, smirk firmly in place as she tosses Toni a bundle of black.

'Fuck off Wid-oh fuck yes!' Toni starts to swear and then cheers. She stands, ignoring the way her fingers itch and burn and Bruce's deepening blush to pull on the jumpsuit.

She messes with the zipper, adjusting it until she was happy with it, and grins at Natasha. She ignores the looks the exposed arc reactor gains and instead tugs Bruce by the wrist and -with a look that doesn't leave room for an argument- limping towards the medics he'd ran from.

'Does this make me a ninja yet?' she crows, winking over her shoulder at Natasha and throws her head back and laughs when both Clint and Natasha yell, 'No!'

She shoves and prods at Bruce until he's sitting with a SHIELD medic patching him up. She waits until his ribs are taped and the cuts on his face and road rash on a very lucky part of his shoulder are cleaned before smacking him upside the head.

'Ow! That was mean.' he says, and has the nerve to pout as he rubs at the spot where she had hit him.

'You know what else hurts?' she says, punctuating the question with another smack, this time to his bicep. 'Dying. Trust me, I've done it enough for the entire team, you ass.'

Bruce looks at her for a long time, and she thinks _okay, good. He got it and we can go back to no emotions._ But his face just, it crumbles and he nods and clears his throat a few times before trying to stand.

'I- I'll just' he says, and would probably try to walk away if Toni hadn't cut him off by sitting in his lap and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

'You could have been hurt is what I mean, Brucie.' she says, and smiles at his mouth still hanging open in reaction to the kiss.

'So next time, let the nice people with more medical training than either of us have patch you up if you de-Hulk before the rest of the team is done rumbling.'

She drops one last kiss to his temple before standing, offering him her hand and tugging him along to where the rest of the team is waiting for them.


	3. Chapter 3

He looks over at Toni -who is sitting on one of her work table and petting Dummy's claw- with a lazy, affectionate smile.

She's going on 30 odd hours without sleep and Bruce can see it starting to wear on her. The fact that when he'd come back into her lab with lunch to find her dancing along to _The Lion King_ soundtrack in her underwear is just another reason on a long list of reasons to stop her before gets too far gone. He's sitting on the counter lining one wall, smiling along to Toni's quiet humming of _Can You Feel The Love Tonight?_ when he remembers he brought food.

'You should eat.' he says, standing with a stretch that pulls the shirt he sleeps in up and her eyes follow. There's something in that look, something that he knows but hasn't been familiar with in a while because he doesn't quite get it.

'I don't wanna.' she says, kicking her feet and pouting, crossing her arms over her chest, throwing the light of the arc reactor against the now-pale skin of her arms and Dummy's claw bumping her side and-

_Oh,_

_Okay._

-If he's not mistaken -which he isn't often. He doesn't need to shout it from the top of the tallest building in New York like Toni, but he doesn't deny it either; not anymore- that was lust. Flat out, dark and slightly animalistic.

Bruce gets Toni to eat, and thinks as he chews carefully on his turkey and avocado wrap. Toni doesn't wake up so much as come back to herself, smiles and pulls on an old shirt he's almost certain belonged to Jim. It hits about mid thigh on her, swirling up around her waist when she switches the music over to something riff heavy that she dances to. Bruce likes to think, and Toni often reinforces the idea, that she's done everything in her life with a background score of thrashing guitars and double bass drums.

Her smile brightens as he takes the hand she offers and she leads them around the lab; circling Butterfingers and skidding past You at the charging station in the corner, Dummy rolling along behind them until Jarvis scolds him like a precocious child.

Bruce thinks of how this must look, both of them sleep deprived and under dressed, waltzing around the lab to her music with that extra something still in her eyes. Because it's still there, not just a flash caused by hunger or caffeine withdrawals, and gentler now.

He tucks her into bed an hour later, smiling and thinking about the kiss she'd sprung on him during his post-battle medical attention, how her smile had lingered when he sat in shock of it, and works a formula in the back of his mind until he falls into his own bed and almost immediately to sleep.

 

+

 

'I've got a theory.'

'Is it bunnies?' Toni sing-songs, rubbing the back of her grease-covered hand over her equally grease-covered forehead before sliding out from under the car she's been tinkering with all afternoon.

'Nice Whedon reference, but no.' Bruce chuckles, smiling down at her and offering a hand up. She flicks her eyes down to her hands because they're filthy, but he just shrugs. She let's him pull her up and his hands linger over her wrists, fingers traveling up and holding her at the elbows. She presses herself into his space, like she always presses into his space and she can see his fight or flight instincts kicking in. She doesn't lean in despite how very much she wants to, despite how fluffy his hair is and how crooked his glasses are today.

'That theory?' she asks, presses in a little closer and smiles when he doesn't pull away.

'Yes- I- theory.' Bruce mumbles and suddenly _he's_ in _her_ space now, one hand going around to the small of her back and the other tangling in her hair. He nuzzles his face into the side of her neck, a few days worth of stubble scrapping against her skin and it would be a mostly innocent hug between them if Toni didn't have to clench her fists to keep from shoving him to the floor, against a wall - _wherever_ she isn't going to be picky about it- and mounting him.

'I was talking to Thor,' he says, and she can see the smile on his face like he knows she has to bite her cheek to keep from making a noise, 'Also Jim, and it seems that our feelings for one another are glaringly obvious to everyone but us.' 

'No shit?' she says, and her voice is already a little breathy. 'So, theory?' she adds fast, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breathes.

'I'm going to kiss you now.' Bruce says, nodding once before he does. He hesitates for a minute -the first thirty seconds it takes Toni's brain to reboot and the next that it takes to kick her body into high gear- but once she's participating and doing so enthusiastically, oh man is it nice. He pulls her against his chest, one hand still at the small of her back while the other roams up her side, and when his thumb brushes along the side of her breast she gasps.

'Sorry! Sorry.' Bruce mumbles, pressing a kiss to the side of her mouth before pulling away, holding her at arms length to look her full in the eyes. Whatever he sees there must be reassuring, a tension seems to leave his shoulders when he exhales, breath ruffling her hair.

'I think we should keep testing this theory.' Toni says, voice suddenly pitched low and before she's even finished speaking Bruce is leaning back in for another kiss. She can't help but laugh a little, because he's smiling into it and it's always been one of her favorite things; his smile. So she closes her eyes, and lets herself get lost in Bruce’s mouth.

Toni loses awareness of anything that isn't Bruce; his hands on her waist or skimming over the exposed skin of her stomach, the way he licks past her teeth with careful precision, as though he's mapping the contours of her mouth and saving her reactions to be analyzed and tested later. She doesn't even notice she's being pushed down onto the sofa on Bruce's side of her lab until the back of her knees hit it and she false back with a gasp.

'God, Toni.' Bruce groans, his face pressed against her side where shirt's ridden up. His stubble scrapes over her hip and he breathes, hot and coming a little fast over her skin, and she shivers. He pushes up onto his elbows; his pupils blown wide, the barest hint of green dancing through them, before laying his head on her chest.

'We don't have to do more than this now,' Toni whispers, carding her fingers through his curls and surprising herself because she _means_ it, 'I want to do more, god knows I want to do everything in the whole 'more' category. But this is good too.'

Bruce hums, fingers drawing equations on her skin before dipping under the top of her sweatpants and back up to her naval.

'And what if I want more now?' Bruce whispers, eyes dancing with a smile he tries to hide. Toni opens and closes her mouth a few times before pulling him up and kissing him, moaning into it and reveling in the feeling of his thumbs catching on the hem of her shirt and dragging it up. Bruce pulls away, nipping and sucking along her jaw.

'Bruce, clothes, we need to not have them on.' Toni moans, wriggling and pushing against him when he smiles against her cheek, dropping a kiss there before sitting up and unbuttoning the top four buttons of his shirt before she tries to stop him.

'Let me.' Bruce says, and holds her gaze. They're both breathing hard and Toni; clarity snapping back into her mind for the moment, imagines how much of Bruce is being put into keeping The Other Guy at bay. 

She nods, lifts her arms over her head and wiggles her fingers, hoping her smile is as reassuring as she wants it to be. He pulls her shirt over her head, and pulls his own off right after. Before she has time to admire Bruce's naked chest -because she'd love to, honestly, wants to spend hours doing just that- he pulls her sweat pants off, and splays his hands on the cushion on either side of her face, lowering himself to lay between her legs. They kiss forever -it seems like it goes on forever at least- deep and thorough before Bruce has to pull away and bury his face against the side of her neck.

'Are you okay?' Toni starts to ask, before he kisses her quiet.

'Just- yes, give me a minute.' he whispers, dropping a kiss to her bare shoulder. Toni traces the curves of his back, dragging nails up his spin and humming tunelessly until Bruce looks up at her and smiles.

'Okay,' he whispers, drags teeth from the bend of her neck to her clavicle, 'But- just let me, Toni?' he asks, and she wants to break him of the habit he has of assuming she'll say no to him, but can't be bothered to do more than roll her eyes and kiss the corner of his mouth.

Bruce smiles, and it bleeds to something feral, his eyes tinged green and he tugs her bottom lip between his teeth, chuckling when she moans. He takes a slow, borderline torturous path from her mouth to the top of her panties, sucking bruises onto the top of her breast, biting at her side and dipping his tongue into her naval. He pauses then, fingers tugging at her underwear as he arches an eyebrow in question.

'Oh my- are you serious? Please don't be serious, if you're serious I will cry.' she grits out between her teeth, gasping when he tugs her underwear down her legs, setting them on top of the pile of clothes on the floor. He leans away, pressing his lips to the side of her knee, trailing kisses up her thigh, skipping over where she was prepared to beg for it to bite at her naval.

'Bruce,' she says, surprised by the whine in her voice and how little she cares about whining, 'If you don't touch me right the fuck now,' she growls, jerks up and gasps when he does and it's fucking _good_. He dips a finger between her folds, adds pressure as he drags up and presses down on her clit, repeats the motion until she's writhing under his hands. He pushes two fingers into her, up to the knuckle and groans; covers her clit with his mouth and starts to lick and suck softly as he crooks his fingers inside of her and- ''Fuck, oh my- Fuck! Why are you stopping?' Toni yells, because Bruce's stopped and that is- it's a crime, really.

'Do you hear that?' Bruce asks, his mouth hovering over her, voice gone low and rough.

'I believe it is Captain Rogers assembling the team, sir.' Jarvis says, sounding apologetic and disapproving all at once.

'Are you fucking kidding me?' Bruce growls and Toni doesn't even hide how hot Bruce swearing is to her. She wiggles under him, tightening her thighs against his sides.

'Yes, can we get back to what was sure to be a marvelous orgasm?' she asks, and Bruce shudders, looks up at her and where there was hunger all of a minute ago, now there's fear etched in the lines of his shoulders and the green sunbursts in his eyes.

'Or not, we can go avenge stuff instead.' She adds on quickly, pushing Bruce to his feet and following him up.

'Go, be green and merry.' she whispers against his cheek before running to pull on the under suit.

She's in the Iron Man suit in the elevator that goes directly from her lab to the roof when she hears what sounds like the roar of thunder, and the Hulk jumps from the bay of windows, dropping to the ground faster than she thought he would.

-

Toni flies down on her own, landing on one knee besides the totally conspicuous blacked-out van SHIELD sends around for the half of their team who can't get their as fast as she can, and flips her faceplate up.

'Are those?' Toni starts to ask, holding a hand out to Natasha to help her out of the van.

'Giant, flying, cats from space? Yup.' Clint chimes in from right behind her. They hear a roar long enough before Hulk lands to move out of the way, Toni kicking up rubble from her boots so he doesn't land right on top of her. He meets her eyes, brow furrowed before stepping between her and the street that's slowly filling with space cars.

He holds a hand behind him, as if to tell her _stand back_ and roars; long and full out, loud enough Toni can see Steve wincing and she drops the faceplate, killing the audio in her suit until he's done.

'We keep Toni safe,' is the first thing she hears when she throws back the faceplate again. The Hulk is leaning down to smile at her and it's soft around his eyes the way it is when Bruce smiles at her. She really can't be held accountable for what happens next, honest.

Clint is firing arrows into the dozens of car-sized space cats on the ground, Natasha flipping over one and kicking another in the face. Thor and Steve are in their favorite back-to-back defensive position, Thor's head thrown back in a laugh that booms like rolls of thunder down the street.

And The Hulk, well he's standing between Toni and a wave of alien cats -seriously _how_ is this her life now?- and all it takes is a short burst from her repulsers to make her level with his face. She throws her arms around his neck, one of his huge hands going around her waist, he grins up to the point where she presses a kiss to his mouth. He gasps, and Toni has never in her life thought that would be a thing that she got to hear, before holding her away from him.

'Make love time later?' he asks, brow furrowing and she nods.

'Make love time later,' she agrees, nods and drops her faceplate, 'Let's kick some ass!' she shouts, and thumps her fist against the Hulk's waiting palm.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce wakes up all at once, muscles tensing before he tries to roll onto his stomach. He tries to, but can't; when he makes to move there's a weight against his side and his arm is asleep. He opens his eyes once he gets control of his breathing, fighting not to panic over the fact that he's naked in a bed that isn't his and that someone's in it with him. But it slowly comes back to him, bits and pieces of the fight between the city of New York and a rabid pack of space cats, of eating a whole vegetarian pizza himself while sitting with Toni.

Toni smiling at him from the floor of her garage, Toni hovering in front of The Other Guy's face to talk to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him like that in front of the entire team. Toni writhing and half naked beneath him-

'We didn't have sex, if that's what you're worried about.' Toni mumbles, words slurred into his skin. Bruce can't believe, not for a moment, that Toni could think _he'd think_ he'd be better off without her. Because he knows Toni, knows how little she thinks of herself more often than not even though she's so wrong it should be laughable.

'That's not it, and you know it.' he says, nudges his nose against her temple to press a kiss there that she seems to melt into. 'I had an episode because we- we were interrupted back in your lab.'

'If I could have Hulk'ed out than, I would have too, Jesus your mouth is criminally under appreciated,' she rolls over in his arms to drape an arm and a leg across his body, 'But that's totally okay, I'll gladly make up for the rest of the world's lack of sense.' her words are muffled by her face pressing against his skin, and she nips at his side. He jerks, and can feel himself blushing as she stills against his side.

'Bruce Banner, are you ticklish?' She asks as she pushes herself up onto her elbows, grinning down at him. It seems like a logical thing to do, with her smiling sleepily and warm against him. He shakes his head, tangles his hand in her hair, dragging her mouth down to his. The kiss is slow and easy and a lot of things he hadn't thought her capable of when they'd first met, but knows now that she's full of. She wriggles around, tightening the hold her leg has around his waist and sighs into his mouth, smiling and pressing as much of her skin against him as she can. Her stomach growls and she pulls away to frown down at it.

'I think it's Clint's turn for breakfast.' Bruce says, smiling, trailing fingers up her side. She's wearing a button-down of his, the one he'd thrown onto the floor of her garage. He doesn't remember getting back to the mansion, but he's pretty sure that Toni flew them back, skipping the after-action debriefing altogether in leu of getting back to bed.  

He's feeling oddly exposed, not for the lack of clothes between them, because every saint and deity -and their little dogs, too- know Bruce has been caught en flagrante more times than anyone cares to admit, and so has Toni for that matter. But this; the easy way they've been since they met melting into them being _together_ , is unnerving.

Toni sits up, stretching her arms over her head and arching her back with a yawn.

'Mmmhm, and that means pancakes.' she says, standing and doing a little dance before falling back onto the bed beside him. She curls into his side, her hair falling into her face and he brushes it behind her ear, rubbing his thumb along her cheek.

'We better get down there before Thor gets the first batch all to himself.' he breathes over her mouth, smiles when she scrunches up her face and nods.

-

When they get into the kitchen no one stops and stares at them like it's a surprise.

Natasha does, however, bump her fist against Clint's when she passes him, bumps her hip against Toni's, and smiles serenely down at them when he sits and Toni drops down next to him, head on his shoulder and legs thrown over his lap.

'You all owe me fifty dollars.' Natasha says, cuts into her stack of pancakes as though they were discussing the weather and not their fellow team members.

'You should really all know better than to bet against Natasha.' Bruce says, passing Toni his coffee. She takes it with an exaggerated moan, smiles at all of them and winks at Bruce.

'Really though, it's been what? A year? And we still think we can beat Tasha's pokerface?' Toni asks, sips at his coffee again before passing it back to him, 'For shame.'

'You need to stop hanging out with Steve if you're gonna talk like him.' Clint says around a mouth full of pancakes and syrup. Steve shakes his head and chuckles, smacking Clint's hand away from his plate of steak and eggs and handing him a napkin.

'It's rude to talk while you chew, Hawk-ass.' Steve says with a straight face. Toni turns to him slowly before throwing her hands in the air.

'I love the Internet, and I love you, Steve Rogers.' She shouts. The commotion Clint causes over the nicknames is a good enough distraction that he misses it when Steve motions to the extra eggs on his plate with his fork and scrapes them onto Toni's plate when she smiles brightly at him.

'I'm happy for you two.' Steve whispers, and like so much of what he says, means it sincerely.

'Thanks Steve.' Toni mouths back, and nuzzles her face against his neck to hide the blush Bruce can see flushing her cheeks.

 

+

 

'Bruce.' Toni murmurs, scraping her fingernails through the scruff on his cheek. His breathing is too fast, his chest heaving, and when he opens his eyes there's electric-green sunbursts going off around his irises. He shakes his head, white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and his breath shakes on the exhale.

'Toni, please, we can run safer tests, we can-' he murmurs, and words run together with how fast he speaks. She shakes her head.

'Bruce, look at me.' she says, and when he won't she grabs his chin between her thumb and forefinger, turns his face towards her.

'Bruce, babe,' she whispers, presses a kiss to his cheek even as she reaches down and digs her nails into his hand, pulling it off of the wheel, 'I trust you, implicitly.'

She wants to tell him the reasons why, because she can see the question in every line of his face. She wants to say _I know you, you're me with a penis and a lack of funds,_ or _our anger management problems may be entirely different but they are just as dangerous when left unchecked._ She doesn't even think about saying _I may have fallen in love with you somewhere down the line and it fucking terrifies me beyond all reason._

He gasps against her mouth when she moves, settles herself in his lap and kisses him, keeping it gentle and chaste. She can feel his pulse slowing down, figures in for a penny, in for the whole god damned dollar, and pulls her t-shirt up and off. It's right on the edge of being too cold down in the garage where they've been sitting, talking circles around this for hours.

'I-you-you shouldn't, we could hurt you, _I_ could hurt you, Toni.' Bruce says, voice almost too quiet to hear over their breathing.

'Bruce,' she whispers again, taking his hands in hers and putting them on her hips. She holds them there as she leans in, presses into his space until the arc reactor plate clinks against the buttons on his shirt. His arm goes around her waist, seemingly without his thinking as she rests her head on his shoulders.

'I know you won't hurt me.' She says, shaking her head and leaning into the tightening of his arm around her.

'I don't want to. Hurt you, I mean.' Bruce stammers, mouth turning up at the corners. He kisses her, smiling into it in the way she recognizes as the nervous tick she's seen less and less since they've met.

He lifts her like she weighs nothing, and her breath catches at the stretch of muscles playing through his arms as he sets her down on the seat beside him. He shoves the door open, kicking his sandals off and hissing when his feet touch concrete before shucking his jeans and getting into the back seat.

'Okay,' Bruce says, exhales deeply and arches an eyebrow, smile nervous as he adds, 'Get down here.' and starts in on the buttons of his shirt. Toni hops over the seat and slaps his hands away, murmurs, 'Let me,' and deftly rids him of the shirt, kissing down his chest as it's exposed to her. 

'Toni, Toni, Toni...' he murmurs her name, tapping formulas in binary on her wrists and pulling them from where she's dragging nails over his thighs.

'Wait?' she asks, and let's him hold her hands away from where she really wants to be. She scoots forward, rests her cheek on his stomach and listens to his breathing.

His grip on her wrists is tight, not so much that she can't break it, but enough that she's very aware of her pulse fluttering under his fingers. She tests it, pulls against his grip and sighs when his hands tighten on her.

'Good now?' she asks, voice a harsh whisper in the hush of the air conditioning unit over the row of cars. She glances up, waits until he looks down at her and his eyes are dark, pupils eating away at the irises. He nods, swallowing hard, clenching his fists and there'll be bruises on her wrists, but she can't even begin to care.

She let's him hold her wrists, smears a kiss over his hip, and catches the top of his boxers with her teeth. She tugs them down, moves to the other side and does the same; moans against his thigh when he squeezes her wrists in his hands.

'Toni.' Bruce ~~says~~ growls and loosens his grip. She moves and chuckles when he lifts his hips, shimmies out of his underwear and falls back against the seat.

Toni nearly rips her panties apart trying to get them off, crawls up onto the seat next to him, throws a leg across his lap and pulls his face down to hers, licks into his mouth and kisses him; sloppy and almost too much, scoots to lay across the seat and pull him down over her, wraps her legs around his waist. He tugs her hands away from his face and holds them over her head, presses them into the door and his grin is filthy pressed into her neck.

'God Toni, you have no idea, but-' He growls, grinds his hips down against her and she clenches her eyes shut.

'No, no buts, tell me what I have no idea of, Bruce.' she moans, arching to press the line of her body against his as he chuckles. 

'I-' he starts, and let's her hands go. She flexes her fingers, taps them against his shoulders and kisses him.

She rolls her hips up, and knows her smile is a little manic but doesn't care. She motions with her hands until he hands over the small foil. She tears it open with her teeth, reaches a hand between them and rolls it on; locks her ankles at the small of his back and guides him into her slower than she wants, slower than she's used to. 

Bruce's hand clenches against her waist, the breath rushing out of his lungs like a punch and Toni rolls her hips, drops her head back against the seat, murmurs swears into his skin.

'I need to move, Toni.' he says in a growl that jolts through her, making her moan.

'Do it,' she growls, 'If you don't I'll hurt you, Banner,' and gasps, murmuring his name when he finally does.

 

+

 

Toni avenges viciously and Bruce knows it. She laughs too raucously, loves too unconditionally, and those are things to worry about of course, but right now -and most often, if he was being honest- it's her vengeance. He knows it, like he knows Natasha has a past she keeps close to her chest, like he knows the quiet of his mind before the roar of The Other Guy taking over. He knows it, but seeing it in action is another thing altogether.

He's still strapped to the table; vision blurred with sweat and blood, stomach churning, The Other Guy whimpering and unable to fight his way out though the men who were set to watching him had left the door open on their way to investigate the explosions sounding from the other side of the compound.

He doesn't test the straps on his arms, gave up on that soon after he woke up and found himself mostly naked and drugged into a stupor. He blinks up at the light over his head and it shakes as another explosion goes off, closer this time.

He can hear someone screaming, followed closely by the whine of repulsers charging before a blast. The door blows inward, and Bruce cringes at the rubble that falls as she moves into the room. She keeps the faceplate up, her movements jerky until she gets to his side.

'Motherfucking, fuck.' Her voice is all cold, electronic rage as she says it, and works her gauntlet off. She unties the bindings on his legs and moves to his arms. He grabs her wrist, where he knows there's the shadow of a bruise healing, and squeezes until she stops for a second, just long enough for him to see her shake with the breath she takes.

Once his hands are free he pulls himself up by the suit, taking his time to find the catch looses her helmet and hits it, pulls it off tries to tangle his good hand, the hand with fingers they hadn't broken during "questioning," in her hair. She takes a step back, mouth a hard line and shaking her head.

'If you touch me right now I'll lose it Bruce, just-' she says, her voice shaking as she works the gauntlet and helmet back on, faceplate up. 'Can you stand?' she asks, and he nods, leans heavily against her in the suit before she bends at the knees and lifts him from behind his knees.

'I've got him, set the charges.' Toni growls and it takes Bruce longer than it should to realize she's speaking to the team over comms.

She blasts holes through doors and walls on her way out, pausing to let Bruce's eyes adjust to the sun beating down on them when they get outside. Thor lands at their side and she glances down at Bruce's face, searching, before setting him down on his feet. She maneuvers him over to Thor, who takes one look at her face and nods solemnly.

'Take care with your rage Toni, do not allow it to rule you.' Thor says, adjusting his hold on Bruce's waist. She chuckles, and it's dark, storm clouds shifting through the chocolate brown of her eyes.

'I'll be right back.' Toni says, voice flat before dropping the faceplate back and taking off. The rest of the team joins them, singed and bloodstained and smoke-choked, but whole. Steve pulls his cowl off, brushing his fingers through his hair and face.

'Where's Toni?' he asks, looking between them and then back at the building. The roof blows out on the far side, and they can hear screaming. Steve's brow pinches together even as Natasha lays a hand on his shoulder, whispering reassurances as a flash of red and gold flies past the bay of windows in the wall closest to them.

'She'll be fine, not so sure about anyone left in there.' Clint says, winces and slaps a bandage onto his arm, holds it out and Thor gingerly makes sure it stays in it's place.

'Aye,' Thor nods, squints at the building starting to fall apart and holds Bruce a little tighter to his side, 'I don't envy any man who crosses paths with her while you're injured, Bruce.' He smiles down at him, only looks away when the whining of repulsers intensifies, and Iron Man flies through the bay of windows as the building collapses.

'Let's get home kids,' she growls and takes off, landing behind the quinjet. She clinks inside, and Thor swings Mjolnir onto his belt, following close behind her and setting Bruce down on the single bed at the rear of the aircraft before sitting across from him.

Steve passes Bruce on his way in, pats him on the shoulder and tries to smile but catches sight if Toni in one of the pilot's seats.

'She-I've never seen her so worried.' He whispers, squeezes Bruce's hand in his before going to her.

They're in the air for an hour, maybe two when Toni finally sneaks back to see him, sitting on the floor with her head leaning back against his arm.

'How long?' Bruce asks, and coughs at how dry his throat is. Natasha hands Toni an open bottle of water, squeezes her shoulder tightly and looks between them before going back to her seat.

'I love the feigned privacy here, like they aren't all listening in.' she whispers, hands him the bottle and helps him sit up.

'You didn't answer my question.' Bruce says, quirks an eyebrow at her when she frowns.

'Too god damn long, Bruce,' she sighs, dropping her head to his lap. He watches her breath, the way her whole body shakes like she might fall apart before she finally looks up at him. There are tears shining in her eyes that he knows she doesn't want to shed, not here, not now, as she says, 'Ten days, seventeen hours, thirty-eight seconds. Exactly.'

'Are they all dead?' he asks, and watches the way she stiffens. Toni sits up, pulls herself up to straddle his lap and rests her head on his shoulder.

'Give me a little credit here Bruce, we couldn't find you for over a week.' she mutters and he can feel her finally start to cave, shaking against his chest. He doesn't need her to answer his last question, holds her to him and presses his mouth to every bit of skin he can reach, whispers reassurances into her mouth, and knows if the tables were turned the body count would be just as high.


	5. Chapter 5

'Toni, I will Hulk the fuck out if you don't get over here right this instant.' Bruce growls. Toni jumps, yelps as he steps out of the shadow in the corner of their bedroom.

'What? I just got home, why are you swearing?' she groans, undoing the top button of her shirt. She glances at herself in the mirror. Her hair is brushing the middle of her spine -longer than it's been in years, almost evened out from the choppy haircut Yinsen had given her when she'd woken in that cave- her eyeliner smudged but still workable, lipstick smeared off on the back of her hand over a lunch meeting with Pepper. She looks good but she also looks exhausted.

She moves to kick off her heels before she sees Bruce approaching her from behind, shaking his head and coming to a stop right behind her. He brushes the hair from the side of her neck and nips at the bruises where her skin is revealed on her neck and shoulders.

'You were gone when I woke up,' he murmurs, wraps his arms around her waist and bunches the bottom of her shirt in his fist. Toni hums, smiling at his reflection, and the smile he hides against her neck unclenches something in her stomach she didn't know had tensed in the thirteen hours she's been gone.

'Yeah, well someone has to bring home the bacon, and I'm a little less likely to turn into a giant, green rage monster.' she says, chuckling when he huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes.

'Oh, only a little less likely?' he says, dragging his cheek up the side of her neck and laughing outright when she says, 'Yup, like this much,' holding her thumb and forefinger apart a few inches.

Bruce smiles, and his eyes are soft and warm when he licks his lips, turns her head to catch her mouth in a kiss she wants to moan into.

'Okay, I missed you too.' she sighs, leaning her head back against his shoulder. She shivers full out, biting her bottom lip to keep from making more noise than she needs to and Bruce, the _absolute bastard,_ digs his fingers into her hip, says, 'Jarvis black out the windows, take the lights down to 45 percent, and lock out all outside communication barring a national catastrophe for the next three hours.'

'When was the last time you slept? Or ate something?' he whispers, the words filthily quiet in her ear, before he pulls her earlobe between her teeth.

'Jesus, Bruce.' she moans. He turns her in his arms, backs her up against the wall and lifts her by the thighs, shoving her skirt up around her waist. He skims fingers along the crease of her thigh, tugging at the scrap of lace she's wearing before rolling his hips against her, hissing as she digs her heels into the back of his legs.

'Bed I think,' Toni murmurs, eyes fluttering open, 'Are you trying to bribe me to sleep with sex?'

'Is it working?' Bruce hums into her neck and she shrugs.

'I'll let you know.' Toni says, waggling her eyebrows and grinning.

Bruce's laugh echoes through the room, and Toni wants to roll around in it; to wrap it around herself and just revel in it. So she pulls him in by the collar, kissing the smile from his mouth as she leans back against his grip on her legs until he stumbles over to the bed, dropping her onto it.

Toni laughs, bouncing backwards to lie in the pile of pillows at the top of the bed, unbuttoning her shirt as she goes. Bruce crawls toward her, still completely dressed, and she'd protest but she knows that's only going to be a temporary problem of theirs at the moment.

'Get up here so we can get naked and sweaty, Doctor Sexy.' Toni grins, lifting her hips, wriggling out of her skirt and kicking it across the room. Bruce's answering huff of laughter over her knee before pressing a kiss to it brings a sigh from her mouth, eyes trained on his.

'You **really** need to stop watching _Supernatural_ with Clint, it only ever ends badly.' Bruce murmurs, eyebrow arched in amusement and Toni -god damn everything she knows, and the years of emotional fucked up-ness engrained in her psyche- melts at the fondness in the quirk of his mouth, the arch of his eyebrow, the minute shake of his head against the insides of her thighs.

She digs her fingers through his curls, tugs until he moves up, dragging teeth over her stomach and the starburst of scars around her heart. He smiles brilliantly down at her, teasing her mouth open and sucking on her tongue, rolling his hips down against hers.

He sits back long enough to pull his shirt over his head, unbuttoning his fly and inches his jeans down his hips before Toni stops him, throwing him back against the bed and kissing up the line of his neck. He let's her control it up until she writhes against him, working a hand down over the front of his pants, fingers grazing the hot, hard length of him.

Bruce growls, eyes dark and intent on every line of her face as it vibrates through her chest and he lays her back on the bed. He smears kisses over her ribs, chuckling when she shivers and twitches when it tickles. Her eyes are squeezed shut and head is thrown back as he digs his fingers into her hip, mouthing along the edge of the reactor plate and pulling her panties down her legs. Toni kicks off her heels, grappling for purchase against the sheets and pulling at his sides, rolling her hips up to meet his.

'Oh my - fuck, oh Bruce, come on.' Toni mumbles, tugging at his belt loops and ignoring the chuckle rising from his chest. She shoves his jeans down his legs with her toes, stares when he stumbles to his feet to tug his pants off.

'You-are going to be the death of me, is what you are.' Toni groans, bites the back of her hand because _fuck_ , he's bare beneath the denim and grinning like he knows he could wreck her completely and simply chooses not to.

'You may have mentioned it,' he smirks, leans back in, rolls his hips to rub himself over her, breath catching in his throat, 'Once or twice.' he says, steadying himself and thrusting shallowly with every word.

-

He doesn't rush, not tonight at least. Toni loses track of how many times she comes after the fifth orgasm blindsides her, whispering his name like a prayer, digging her heels into his back and her fingers through his hair.

His face is buried between her thighs, tongue swirling and licking her clit while she tries and fails -he's holding her down with one hand splayed over her stomach, and he's _so fucking strong_ , she forgets sometimes and can't even handle it when he reminds her of that fact- to fuck herself on the fingers he has inside of her. His hair is matted to his head with sweat and his weeks worth of stubble is rubbing her thighs raw. Toni's rambling mindless mixtures of filth and endearments and Bruce stills, breath coming out of his lungs over her in a warm rush of air she shivers under.

'Toni?' Bruce says, voice rough, and he moves up onto his elbows.

'What, what'd I say, I-'Toni murmurs, and realizes that horrible run-on sentence had went a little something like: _fuck, Bruce, you're- oh fucking yes please, right there, you're amazing, fucking love your mouth on my- oh god, I love you-_

'Toni, it's okay.' Bruce says, and his smile is a little too even, eyes carefully blank. If her legs could move, she'd probably kick herself in head. She hates that look on Bruce's face, hates even more that she put it there and can't meet his eyes for a very long moment. Bruce sits back on his legs and scrubs his hands down his cheek, rasping against stubble.

'No, you know what?' She sits up, pulls her knees to her chest and is comforted -and haunted, fucking always- by the solid bump of metal against her thighs.

'I do,' she murmurs into her hands, wriggles her toes against his knee, 'I love you and I feel dumb for taking so long to tell you because I've basically been ass over tea kettle for you since you wore my clothes when we saw Thor and Loki off after our first Avengers battle royale and shitty for making the declaration of my epic science-y love for you while you were going down on me, but there it is,' she says, afraid to meet his eyes until he leans into her space, grabs her chin and tilts her mouth up to slant against his.

'I love you,' Bruce whispers, smiling and laughing lightly against her lips, 'You crazy, ridiculous, amazing, genius of a woman; I love you too.'

He says it over and over, whispering it against her mouth, breathing it into the skin of her neck, mumbling it over the plate of the reactor, smearing it in a kiss down her side; and all Toni can do, all she ever really _wants_ to do -when Bruce is involved- is give it  right back as good as she's getting. She mouths it along the line of his jaw, presses it in kisses down his chest, laughs it against his hip when he jerks and snorts as she tickles her fingers up his side, murmuring it into his mouth when he growls playfully, pulling her up and burying his hands in her hair.

When she wakes up before Bruce like she does every morning they actually get to bed, she trails her fingers through his chest hair, rubbing her cheek over his shoulder and sighing. She's covered in bite marks and bruises in the shape of Bruce's mouth and hands, patches of skin rubbed raw by his stubble, sore from her toes to her nose and it surprises her to find that she's happy, content.

It's not something she's used to; happiness for her tends towards fleeting and alcohol induced, but with Bruce... She's hesitant to admit it, because every time she has in the past is when she fucks it all up. But she _is_ happy, not only for her relationship with Bruce, but the whole team.

Steve is the closest friend she has in the mansion outside of Bruce and Rhodey when he's around; Thor never ceases to amaze her with his insight and unflappable optimism. Clint is like every frat boy Toni remembers from college and not, sneaks her candy bars and brings her trinkets from wherever he's sent on SHIELD's dime, and Natasha, though still scary, only on the occasion that she's caught on a particularly bad day is she truly terrifying.

She scratches her nails through the hair at Bruce's temple and presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth when he sniffles in his sleep, nuzzling against her face. Bruce wakes up between one breath and the next, smiling and mostly asleep. He mumbles, 'What are you doin' up?' and Toni grins, presses her face into his neck and sighs.

'Nothing. Just happy, I guess,' she murmurs, kisses his chin, 'And I love you.'

'Mmm. Love you,' Bruce says before he's kissing her quiet.

 

 

 

 

+++  
Epilogue  
+++

 

 

 

'So who said it first? I only ask because , in your own words, "For Science"' Steve says, air quotes and a quirked eyebrow battling with the smile stretching across his face.

'I'm not telling you, you'll get all smug old man on me.' Toni says, frowning into the coffee he'd set in front of her when she'd shuffled out of her bedroom.

'Toni-'

'Don't use "For Science" either, Thor will  start saying it and it'll stop being my code for sex with Bruce.' she says, grins when Steve chokes on the fork full of eggs he'd just dug into. She pats his back and pushes his glass of milk closer to him, and he nods his thanks.

'What was the bet?' Toni asks, mouth pursed.

'If it was Bruce, I'll owe Natasha 100 dollars and an encore performance of _The Star Spangled Man With A Plan_ ' Steve blushes, smiling down at his hands.

'I will put on one of the backup dancer's outfits.' she says after a moment because, with Howard for her father, she knew the whole number. Steve blushes even redder and shakes his head.

'Not necessary-' he starts before she cuts in with, 'It was me, what'd she offer you?'

Steve's mouth drops open, and she thinks he'll cry, he looks like he might cry. Instead he pulls her around so he can envelope her in a proper hug, resting his chin against her temple.

'What'd Tasha offer you?' she asks again, waggling her eyebrows. Steve wrinkles his nose and rubs the back of his neck.

'If I tell you she'll kill us both, and then who's gonna babysit the rest of the team?'

'I'm pretty sure that's what Fury's job title actually is, but point taken.'

'Good for you Toni, really.' he says, beaming down at her and she can't help her responding grin or throwing her head back to laugh when he texts Natasha and they can hear her swearing colorfully from across the mansion.


End file.
